Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham celebrated England’s goal by taking a knee and covering their face, with Bellingham explaining the significance after.

England kicked off its Euro 2024 campaign with a slender 1-0 win against Serbia in the opening weekend of the tournament. England was heavily expected to soundly win in Gelsenkirchen, but in the end Gareth Southgate’s side labored in its win.

Trent Alexander-Arnold played from the start, with the Liverpool man started in the middle of the pitch alongside Arsenal’s Declan Rice in a 4-2-3-1 system. England took the lead early on in the game, when Jude Bellingham met Bukayo Saka’s deflected cross in the middle of the box to power a header past Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajković

Bellingham celebrated together with Alexander-Arnold, with the pair getting on one knee and putting their hand over their face in a choreographed celebration. However, the celebration wasn’t picked up by the main TV cameras, and thus fans didn’t see it in real time.

Speaking after the win, Bellingham explained the reason behind the celebration, saying: “When we play [the card game] Wolf, one of the staff loves that face when he doesn’t have a clue what’s going on,” Bellingham said live on BBC One when asked about the celebration. “That was kind of a group celebration for the Wolf group!”

Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold are close friends, with the pair spending a lot of time together at the last World Cup in Qatar and also in this tournament. England’s narrow 1-0 win against Serbia means Southgate’s men top Group C after the first round of games. England now face Denmark next Thursday night in Frankfurt. A win there will guarantee England top spot in the group.

Alexander-Arnold played for 68 minutes against Serbia, before being taken off by Southgate for Conor Gallagher. Bellingham, meanwhile, lasted 86 minutes before being replaced by Kobbie Mainoo.

Liverpool’s other English representative at the tournament — Joe Gomez — didn’t see any action in Gelsenkirchen, with the Liverpool defender remaining on the bench. However, after the game Southgate admitted that ‘we’ve got a squad and we need to use it’, and it could mean minutes for Gomez in the Denmark game.